Thank you for that. I thank the department. Just a question on commercial space or commercial real estate space right now in the Yellowknife area. For our information, what percentages of vacancy do we have in commercial real estate space? Thank you.

Okay, so what I’m hearing is that

8,400 square metres of vacancy space in Yellowknife. What is that in square feet, because I deal in dif

ferent numeric here. What’s that in square

feet?

Minister Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That’s times 10.76. It would be about 85,000 square feet.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you for that. I appreciate being right on the ball with conversions. That’s pretty impressive. I like that.

So, it’s roughly 85,000 square feet versus how much commercial real estate that we have that’s actually occupied. What percentage do we have, as a guess, as to what vacancy do we have of commercial real estate in Yellowknife right now? Thank you.

The 85,000 square feet is actual vacancy space and about 52,000 of that would be the one building, the Bellanca Building. What we thought the Member had asked for was the vacancy. So, if the Member wishes to have the number of what percentage of leased space versus the owned space and how much of that is vacant, we can provide that number.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Dolynny, could you just clarify the question?

Thank you. What I’m trying to get

at, Mr. Chair, is to get a sense of where the department sits and has an understanding of what is the actual vacancy rate for commercial real estate in Yellowknife. We are a large tenant, both leased and owned, but I’m trying to get a grasp and I know Public W

orks is right on the ball on this I’m sure. They know

those numbers quite accurately. I need to know, as a Member, what is the vacancy rate now in Yellowknife that we have for information in terms of commercial real estate. Thank you.

Thank you, deputy minister. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you very much. I find that to be possibly a little bit on the low side given some of the statistics that I know that are out there. I think that’s probably where the problem lies. It’s a bit of a disconnect in terms of what we have, the department has in terms of vacancy rate for commercial real estate versus what’s probably out there for Yellowknife.

Mr. Chair, I’m getting numbers somewhere in the order of 12 to 14 percent of vacancy and I guess I need to get a grasp on this. So, will the department commit and provide the Member a full breakdown on what numbers they have for commercial vacancy for Yellowknife and would they be able to provide that information before the end of session? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we can provide that information before the end of session.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that. So, my final question on this one, from the department’s standpoint in terms of having an impact or a negative or positive impact on the commercial space available in any type of town or village, at what point or what critical impact does the vacancy rate have in terms of the economics of that town or village or city? Does the department have a certain target number? What I mean is when the vacancy of commercial real estate gets above a certain 7 percent, does that have a negative impact on the so- called rates in that area that the government is working on? Does the department have a specific target that they look at, especially for Yellowknife, where if we’re reaching that vacancy rate there is some concern? Is there a special target figure that PWS has to monitor when we get to that critical factor of vacancy versus occupied commercial space?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Deputy Minister Guy.

Thank you, Mr. Buy. Mr. Dolynny.

I’m good. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I

appreciate it.

Alright, committee. Next on my list I have Mr. Moses.